Training help I'm just a weenie not a weight Weenie.

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

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Bantamben
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:43 am

by Bantamben

Anyone out there ever go from a really slow rider to one of the faster guys in their group? If so could you share some of the training that worked for you. I ride with about 10 guys on a regular basis they are all faster then me. I struggle with most of them to even hold there wheel on flats they seem to put out more power than even i make plus the aero advantage of being on there wheel. Even though I have been riding longer then half of them and I ride more most of them are 1-2 times a week guys. I'm 36 about 165lbs 6'1" and have always had skinny non powerful legs. I recently did a 1 hour flat out ride on a hilly loop at about 220watts at 166 avg heartrate which was the highest avg I've ever done for an hour. That's just a little background. I really struggle above about a 6 percent grade as my power ouput limits me.
Any help on training tips that worked for you would be greatly appreciated.

by Weenie


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mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

Get a coaching book, there are dozens out there. Read it and work out what you should be doing.
Cyclists training bible isn't bad for the money.
Riding for a long time doesn't make you fit if you aren't organised and structured.

Or, get a coach.

parsnip
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:50 pm

by parsnip

Do you have spacers under your stem? Try going to a lower position or riding in the drops more if your back and the rest of your fit will take it. I lowered my bars by 3cm the other month and it gave me like .75-1 mph on the flats free. You may need to do it in stages to give your body time to adapt, I got away with it because I'm 18, although occasionally my glutes would tire unnaturally quickly, but that's stopped now.

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MattSoutherden
Posts: 1376
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:22 pm
Location: London

by MattSoutherden

Sounds like you have a power meter, so analysis and progress monitoring should be fairly simple.

Grab yourself a copy of Training and Racing with a Power Meter. Read it. Read it again. Create a power profile. Work on your weaknesses.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

3W/Kg is lower half of Cat4 on the Coggan power charts.
Snacking on carrot sticks - Where did it all go so wrong?
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Finsbury Park CC

kulivontot
Posts: 1163
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 7:28 pm

by kulivontot

Draft. A lot. Don't pull ever. Focus on training that'll increase your FTP rather than straight endurance rides. Or just wait for things to turn uphill and put the hurt on all the fatties.

Bantamben
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:43 am

by Bantamben

Thanks for the replies. I did have a powertap for awhile and now I've been using a cycleops powercal heartrate meter that gives you a calculated power. It actually works pretty good if you calibrate it every once in a while. Maybe my friends are just all physically gifted. It's funny though on isolated climbs if I'm fresh I can beat them sometimes but my recovery is terrible. I try to ride there wheel but even trying that I still get dropped alot as the difference between there wattage and mine is too great. I guess my threshold is just really low at longer intervals I need a simple training plan to stick to try to raise it. I live in a very hilly area whith cat 3-4 climbs on every ride so the training is close. I'm just kinda lost. I'm tired of being beaten by girls in the group rides.

Has anyone on this board had a similar story where they went from a exceptionally weak rider to a rider that can hang with the local fast group?
How'd you do it.

I am slightly anemic as in I have a hemocrat of like 37 I think where male average is like 42 I believe. Could this be my problem, if so maybe I should sell my bike and get a nice bowling ball:)

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btompkins0112
Posts: 2635
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:04 am
Location: Mississippi

by btompkins0112

Don't ignore nutrition, both on and off the bike as well. You can overcome some natural barriers by being more fastidious than your rivals.

Bantamben
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:43 am

by Bantamben

Also there is no winter here to do base building as I live in Southern California. I ride road and mountain bike mostly on a local loop I have a full suspension Gary fisher and a 29er trek. Any drills on MTB you reccomend for increasing threshold. Does base miles help with mountain?
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Last edited by Bantamben on Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:23 am, edited 2 times in total.

badlydubbed
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:46 pm

by badlydubbed

i was 20st and probably the slowest out of everyone i go out with....just nutrition and cycling everyday helped me (dont neglect rest either though)

im still not the fastest....but top 5 now out of everyone i go out with...thats taken 3 years however! im now 13st...and could do with dropping a bit more even still...

i just go on feel, if i feel good i go hard...if i feel a bit shyt i knock it back....i do both mtb and road too.

Bantamben
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:43 am

by Bantamben

Ah the merkx's method

petepeterson
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:58 am
Location: 604

by petepeterson

just drink beet juice don't change anything else

Butcher
Shop Owner
Posts: 1917
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:58 am

by Butcher

kulivontot wrote:Draft. A lot. Don't pull ever.


Really? If I did that, I would be kicked off the team. If everyone did that, you would never leave the coffee shop.

Try riding hard, all the time, everytime, even when it hurts. I rode to work 18 miles there and 18 miles back. Everytime was a time trial for me. I tried at least twice a week. I would check my time and after a while, the time was improving.

I went from last to top 3 on our team rides. If I do not ride hard during the week, I am with the 'B' group. We also have a World/Nat champ on the team to keep the speeds up [hills and straights].

But whatever you do, take your pull every time. Obviously there will be times you may have to pass, but that should be rare.

Devon
Posts: 782
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2013 1:19 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

by Devon

I'm going to make an assumption, I may be wrong, but if I'm right then it'll work wonders for building leg strength. I'm sure I will be slated for this because you're not allowed an unconventional opinion here, but;

Ditch the compact and large ratio cassette.

There are hundreds of fancy methods for training but nothing will do more than hard and regular riding, eating properly and resting correctly.

I started riding about a year ago and have gone from being mediocre to matching the E12s on my training rides.

Good luck :thumbup:

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DMF
Posts: 1062
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:14 am
Location: Sweden

by DMF

I gotta go out on a limb here and disagree with everyone. Seems to me like what you need is to get off the bike for a while and hit the gym. Your muscles are used to the motion of cycling, and therefore progress will be very slow. But that's just an opportunity to chock the body with something new.

I promise you will gain some real muscle strength in the first couple of months. Then get back on the bike...

And I do mean 3-4 days a week, not just a lazy Saturday morning pump...

by Weenie


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DCnoJ
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:50 am

by DCnoJ

petepeterson wrote:just drink beet juice don't change anything else


Hahaha. Winner.

Let's start with the basics. How long have you been riding for? What's your athletic history? How many days a week do you ride? And how many hours a week total do you average?

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